On Creaturely Life: Rilke, Benjamin, Sebald

242 Pages·2006·0.772 MB·English

by  Eric L. Santner

On Creaturely Life

On Creaturely
Life
rilke | benjamin | sebald
Eric L. Santner
university of chicago press
chicago and london
eric l. santner is the Philip and Ida Romberg Professor in Modern
Germanic Studies and chair of the Department of Germanic Studies at the
University of Chicago. He is a coauthor of The Neighbor: Three Inquiries in
Political Theology(2005).
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2006 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2006
Printed in the United States of America
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 1 2 3 4 5
isbn:0-226-73502-8 (cloth)
isbn:0-226-73503-6 (paper)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Santner, Eric L., 1955–
On creaturely life : Rilke, Benjamin, Sebald / Eric L. Santner.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn0-226-73502-8(cloth:alk.paper)—
isbn0-226-73503-6(pbk.:alk.paper)
1. Sebald, Winfried Georg, 1944– —Criticism and interpretation.
2. Psychoanalysis and literature. 3. Rilke, Rainer Maria, 1875–1926—
Influence. 4. Melancholy in literature. 5. Benjamin, Walter, 1892–
1940—Influence. I. Title.
pt2681.e18z84 2006
833(cid:2).914—dc22
2005027453
(cid:2)(cid:3)
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansiz39.48-1992.
for Slavojand Analia

1
Contents editions of sebald’s works ix
2
preface xi
3
On Creaturely Life 1
4
The Vicissitudes of Melancholy 43
Toward a Natural History of the Present 97
On the Sexual Lives of Creatures and Other Matters 143
epilogue 197
index 209

Editions of Sebald’s Works
In the text I provide page references to both German and English
editions of Sebald’s major works (German page numbers follow the
slash). I used the following editions:
Nach der Natur: Ein Elementargedicht.Frankfurt a.M.: Fischer, 1995.
After Nature.Trans. Michael Hamburger. New York: Modern Library, 2003.
Schwindel. Gefühle. Frankfurt a.M.: Fischer, 1996.
Vertigo.Trans. Michael Hulse. New York: New Directions, 1999.
Die Ausgewanderten: Vier lange Erzählungen.Frankfurt a.M.: Fischer, 1996.
The Emigrants.Trans. Michael Hulse. New York: New Directions, 1996.
Die Ringe des Saturn.Frankfurt a.M.: Fischer, 1998.
The Rings of Saturn.Trans. Michael Hulse. New York: New Directions, 1999.
Austerlitz.Munich: Hanser, 2001.
Austerlitz.Trans. Anthea Bell. New York: Modern Library, 2001.